Songs from a Fading Score
by Lucea
Summary: A collection of unrelated drabbles inspired by various randomly selected songs.
1. Flight to the Ford: Luke

**Disclaimer:** _Tales of the Abyss_ and its characters are copyright Namco Bandai Games Inc. All songs mentioned here belong to their respective copyright holders. These works are not for profit.

A/N: These drabbles are all the result of putting my music playlist on shuffle and writing to whatever comes up for the length of the song. Not every lyric of each song applies to them, but each drabble was inspired by the song listed. These may include up to full game spoilers.

* * *

**Song:** Flight to the Ford, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack**  
Focal Character(s):** Luke

Luke fon Fabre hated running.

It wasn't the running itself - he hadn't minded that ever, really - but the fact that he was running away. Again. Running away while others sacrificed themselves behind him so that he could run. It used to be different. He wouldn't have cared before, but now... Luke's hands clutched the railing of the Tartarus as it plowed through the icy waters, leaving Sheridan behind. This was the finest project, the final project, of Classes M and I, and he'd decided not to waste it. The project or the sacrifice. He had to keep going for their sake. The fierce determination pounded at him as hard as the guilt of running.

He'd learned about a fight or flight reaction back when he'd first started traveling. And he had decided that he wasn't going to choose flight any longer. He had to fight. He had to.


	2. There Was No Thief: Luke

**Song:** There Was No Thief, Relient K  
**Focal Character(s):** Luke

At first, Luke had been in pure denial. It wasn't his fault. It was not his fault! It couldn't be... It couldn't be his fault that everyone was turning their backs on him... It couldn't be his fault that they didn't believe in him... It couldn't be his fault that they were never coming back...

It took him a long time to figure out the truth. It wasn't someone else that had taken them away. It wasn't someone else that had caused them to lose their trust in him. It was him. He'd been such a coward, so wrapped up in himself that he hadn't even noticed that he'd made them turn away.

It took him even longer to figure out what he had to do. He, Luke fon Fabre, had to get them back, somehow. He'd made a mess of everything, and it was his fault. He was the one who had lost them, and now it was up to him to find them back.


	3. Wit's All Been Done Before: Entire party

**Song:** Wit's All Been Done Before, Relient K  
**Focal Character(s):** Entire party

"Okay, so now that we have the Meggiora Highlands Sephiroth done, we have one more before the Absorbtion and Radiation Gates, right?"

"No, Luke, two."

"What, you mean there's another one? I thought we only had Mt. Zaleho left."

"You're forgetting Mt. Roneal again."

"Why does there have to be so many of these? It's like they never end..."

"Would you rather have the land sinking into the Qliphoth because there isn't adequate support for it?"

"Gah, shut up, Jade, you're not helping."

"He never said he was trying to help."

"Anise! You're not helping either."

"I never said-"

"_Just shut up, okay?_"

* * *

A/N: This conversation probably couldn't have really happened, since I don't think they knew the locations of all the Sephiroth from the start. Oh well.


	4. You're Gonna Miss This: Tear, Luke

**Song:** You're Gonna Miss This, Trace Adkins  
**Focal Character(s):** Tear, Luke

When Tear Grants first met Luke fon Fabre, she never thought she'd miss him.

Luke had been obnoxious to point that she had been ready to leave him out in the forests of Malkuth, go right back to Yulia City, and forget all of this. But she had been obligated to bring him back to his home in Baticul, because she was the one who'd forced him away.

When Tear Grants saw Luke fon Fabre fall apart after destroying Akzeriuth, she never thought she'd miss him.

She had to admit that his determination to change was admirable, but she wasn't convinced he could pull it off. Tear promised to watch him, and slowly, he did begin to change. Ever so slowly, it happened. So slowly at times that she almost didn't realize it until she looked back.

When Tear Grants looked back at Luke fon Fabre as she left Eldrant, she almost couldn't believe that once, she'd never thought she'd miss him.


	5. Hope For Every Fallen Man: Guy

**Song:** Hope for Every Fallen Man, Relient K  
**Focal Character(s): **Guy

"Luke, don't make me more disappointed in you than I already am."

Guy hadn't known what to make of the red-haired figure out on the deck of the Tartarus, repeating the words over and over, trying to convince himself. _"It's not my fault. It's not my fault!" _Part of him wanted to say "yeah, right, Luke, get ahold of yourself." But he knew that he couldn't. He might have turned his back on Luke for the time being, but he could never do it permanently. Luke just didn't realize it yet.

That was why, much later, he turned his back on Asch in Belkend. He had to find Luke. Because that idiot needed him.


	6. Peace: Ion

**Song:** Peace, George Winston  
**Focal Character(s): **Ion

Peace seemed so fragile sometimes.

The peace treaty had been what started it all, in a way. The peace treaty had taken him from Daath, no, the desire for peace had taken him from Daath. And for a while, peace had seemed impossible.

Ion had believed in them, in all of them. He'd changed hands more times than he could count, and in it all, he hadn't wanted to give up his trust in them. It hurt, to see them betrayed. He hadn't understood. Why did it hurt?

Because, he'd realized, they were his friends. His first real friends, like Anise, his very first and until then only real friend. And so, when the peace treaty was finally signed, he was glad. And not just because he wanted peace.

It was because his friends had achieved their goal, too. And he learned what it meant to be truly, deeply happy for them.


	7. Apathetic Way to Be: Sync

**Song:** Apathetic Way To Be, Relient K  
**Focal Character(s):** Sync

To put it plainly, Sync didn't care. He didn't care what happened to him. He was just a replica, after all. He could be replaced. What's to be lost?

He didn't particularly care about the world, either. Van talked of freeing the world from the Score as if he would save the world in doing so. Sync didn't care about the world. It didn't care about him, so why should he care about it?

All he did care about was the destruction of the Seventh Fonon. It was what had made his life miserable, what had made his life worthless. For that matter, it was what had made his life in the first place. And he hated it for that. That was all he really felt, he thought. Hatred. Bitterness. Not that it mattered. He was just dispensable, anyway. Why should his feelings matter?

Sync didn't care. And really, he thought, why should he?


	8. Requiem for a Tower: Luke

**Song:** Requiem for a Tower, The Lord of the Rings [movie trailer]  
**Focal Character(s): **Luke

Luke fon Fabre didn't want to die.

But with every step he took, he could feel it coming closer. It was like a cadence. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._ He didn't want to march to that cadence, but he couldn't help himself. It was like his body moved of its own accord. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

The Tower of Rem seemed to grow larger as they got closer. The apprehension in the depths of Luke's heart began to grow. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._ His heart was leaping frantically, as though trying to get in as many beats as it could before it was forced to stop. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._ His breathing was ragged, as though his lungs were trying to take in the maximum amount of air possible before they froze in death. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

It was building. _I'm going to die._ His panicked emotions were clinging harder to life. _I'm going to die._ He felt like he couldn't control himself. _I'm going to die._ Each stair was one stair closer. _I'm going to die._ The elevator went quickly - too quickly. _I'm going to die._ Now here he was, the Sword of Lorelei in hand, surrounded by replicas. _I'm going to die._

Luke fon Fabre didn't want to die. But he'd already made his choice.


	9. Home Tonight: Tear

**Song:** Home Tonight, Chris Rice**  
Focal Character(s):** Tear

_"Come home!"_

Days went by, and she waited. Time moved on, and she seemed to drift along with it. She moved through each day, going through the motions, but waiting. Always, always waiting.

_"I will."_

The sky was dark over the field of selenias. Her song flowed over them, reaching toward the ocean, reaching toward the stars. Reaching toward him. He'd promised. She'd waited. They'd all waited.

_"I promise."_

And then, she saw him.

_"I'll come home."_

* * *

A/N: The italicized dialogue comes right out of the game, in the final conversation between Luke and Tear just before the party leaves Luke to free Lorelei in Eldrant.


	10. Treason of Isengard: Anise

**Song:** Treason of Isengard, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack**  
Focal Character(s): **Anise

Over her time working for two sides, Anise had become very good at putting up a front. All she had to do was smile, giggle, and make a comment about money, and all suspicion was erased. Anise was Anise, they would say, and life would move on. Nothing to worry about. Just Anise being Anise.

But underneath it all, she hoped and wished with every single bit of her heart that someone would see through her facade and free her from her prison. She wanted them to know that she was lying. But she couldn't just come right out and say it. Mohs would have her head.

It was like she was waiting for Prince Charming to come and rescue her, but Prince Charming didn't know that the damsel was in distress.

The problem was, and she didn't realize it was the problem until after it was too late and she sat clutching the fonstone that was the only thing left to her of Ion, that was the damsel's fault.


	11. Breakfast at Timpani's: Luke, Natalia

**Song:** Breakfast at Timpani's, Relient K**  
Focal Character(s):** Luke, Natalia

"Hey, um, I just wanted to say thanks for cooking breakfast today."

"Oh, um, you're welcome. Was it... okay?"

"Yeah, it was... um... edible..."

_Well, at least she tried..._


	12. Who I Am Hates Who I've Been: Jade

**Song:** Who I Am Hates Who I've Been, Relient K**  
Focal Character(s):** Jade

Jade's past was something he spoke of when necessary, and only when necessary. He simply didn't find it beneficial to drag out the skeletons in his closet more than he had to. When he did, he said it matter-of-factly and then moved on.

He gave the facts and the facts only. The others didn't need to know his feelings about his past. They didn't need to know that sometimes he thought the world would be better off if he hadn't been born.

He hated the Jade that had blindly pursued fomicry for his own ends, to bring back his Professor so that he could put his feelings to rest. Because that was a fantasy. It could never happen, and even if it could, deep down, he knew it really wouldn't help him.

And that was why he'd placed the ban on the replication of living things. That was why, when he learned at Deo Pass what Van was doing, he'd almost completely lost control. Almost. But then his spear was gone, his hands back in his pockets, and he was the sarcastic, smirking Jade again who acted, almost, as though the fury had never even existed.


	13. Brand New Day: Van

**Song:** Brand New Day, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog******  
Focal Character(s):** Van

The Score, the Score, the Score. The world was obsessed with the Score. The world didn't even know that it was poisoning itself. It was disgusting.

The world needed to be freed from the Score. He knew, and he would do what it took. Even if it meant rebuilding the world itself outside of the Score. Even if it meant losing his one-time master and his sister, his only family.

Finally, it would be a brand new day. Finally, the world would be free from the Score.

And Van would be its savior.


	14. Into the West: Entire party

**Song:** Into the West, Annie Lennox**  
Focal Character(s): **Entire party

Over the course of their journey, they'd saved the people of two cities and the soldiers of two armies, brought about a peace treaty, stopped the core's vibration, lowered the Outer Lands, neutralized the miasma, ended Van's ambitions, freed Lorelei, and saved the world.

But their success hadn't come without a price. They knew that more people than they could count had given their lives to see them achieve their goals. From the crew of the Tartarus back at the very beginning of their journey, through Akzeriuth, Classes M and I and the people of Sheridan, General Frings, Ion, the replicas at the Tower of Rem, Asch... so many people had died. And they lived on because of those people.

They never forgot those people. They knew a few names, but not many. So they honored their memories and their sacrifice by remembering them every day and achieving those goals on their behalf. They'd build a world without the Score, one that those people would be proud to have given everything for.

Because that was what they had done.


	15. Over My Head (Cable Car): Jade, Peony

**Song:** Over My Head (Cable Car), The Fray**  
Focal Character(s):** Jade, Peony

The crack of flesh hitting flesh seemed to echo in the air. Jade stared at the floor in shock. Had Peony's fist collided with his jaw two inches higher, his glasses would have been on the other side of the room. But that wasn't what was on his mind.

"That's enough!"

Jade continued looking away, his jaw still smarting with fresh pain.

"Whatever you do, the dead cannot be brought back to life! And spare some thought about how Nephry, Saphir, and I would feel if you were to die!"

Jade finally looked up at Peony. His friend's hand was still balled into a fist as he lowered his raised voice.

"You can't run away from what you did. If, in spite of that, you still want to run away, at the very least let the Professor rest in peace."

Jade lowered his eyes, closing them. He'd been so blind. Peony had seen it for so long, and Jade had just closed his eyes and kept running. It had taken him this long to realize just how far in over his head he was. Logically, his other injuries should have been causing him more pain, but in truth, this was this one that hurt the worst.

"...You're right. Perhaps it's already time I put this to an end."

* * *

A/N: The dialogue here is taken directly from chapter four of the Jade manga, where Peony quite literally smacks some sense into Jade after a fomicry experiment goes wrong, leading him to stop the fomicry experiments to resurrect Professor Nebilim. The scene also shows up in episode eleven of the Abyss anime.


	16. Life Means So Much: Luke

**Song:** Life Means So Much, Chris Rice**  
Focal Character(s):** Luke

Every minute was valuable. Every hour was precious. Every day was a treasure.

Because every minute, every hour, every day, time marched closer to the moment he would disappear. His fonons could only hold themselves together so much longer. It was ironic, how he'd learned just how much he loved living as the clock ticked down to the moment he would die. He didn't want to die, but he didn't have a choice.

So every minute, every hour, every day, he held close, filled as full as he could with just living. He talked, teased, laughed along with all of them, just savoring each moment he was given, for good or for ill.

Every minute, every hour, every day was a gift. And until the very moment he vanished, he was going to make the most of them.


	17. Give Until There's Nothing Left: Tear

**Song:** Give Until There's Nothing Left, Relient K  
**Focal Character(s):** Tear

She suffered in silence. With every Sephiroth they activated, it grew worse. But she wouldn't say a word. She didn't need to tell them how pain plagued her every movement, how fatigue constantly crept at the corners of her vision. They were all worried about her, and she knew it. She didn't need to worry them further.

But there was no choice. It was her or Van, and not only would he not help them, but she wouldn't let him suffer the same fate. So she accepted it silently. She was willing to give everything to save their world, to stop her brother.

She'd give until there was nothing left.


	18. White Flag: Cecille, Frings

**Song:** White Flag, Dido  
**Focal Character(s):** Cecille, Frings

He couldn't love her. It wasn't proper. They were enemies. She wasn't _worthy_. She could list reason after reason after reason why he couldn't love her. It wasn't possible.

He shouldn't love her. She tried to tell him _no_, every way she could. That didn't matter, though, because he refused to give up. He was certain that she was the one. He was in love, and he always would be.

Deep down, she didn't want to say no. And so when their marriage became a symbol of peace, not an act of treason, she could hardly believe it enough to give her emphatic _yes_.

And then he was gone. Just. Like. That.

She was a widow before she ever married. Because in the end, she, too refused to give up. He was gone, but she was in love, and she always would be.


	19. The Lion's Roar: Anise, Arietta

**Song:** The Lion's Roar, Trans-Siberian Orchestra  
**Focal Character(s):** Anise, Arietta

It hurt to fight Arietta. Anise didn't want to admit it at first - she stood boldly, claimed she wanted to get this over with, that she wanted vengeance too - but when it came down to it, it hurt. She was nearly crying already. Why did it hurt so much? This was what Arietta wanted, wasn't it?

So she pushed the feelings away and let the duel begin. Anise's friends were rallied behind her, and Arietta's were the same. They gave it everything they had - Arietta for her liger mommy, for Ion, and Anise for the people who had died on the Tartarus, and for Ion too. Anise felt the guilt for killing Ion. For a scary moment, she almost believed that she deserved to die at Arietta's hands.

But her friends wouldn't allow that, and she wouldn't allow that. There was a world that needed them, that needed her. She was going to change that world, change the Order, too, and she was going to do it for Ion.

And in the end, after she saw Arietta fall and all of those pushed away feelings poured out, she decided that she would do it, just a little bit, without ever telling anyone, despite how much she'd hated her, for Arietta, too.


	20. I'm Not That Girl (Reprise): Natalia

**Song:** I'm Not That Girl (Reprise), Wicked Soundtrack  
**Focal Character(s):** Natalia

All of a sudden, he was gone.

For the very briefest of moments, she almost wished it had been the other way around.

But she knew, from the very fleeting instant it crossed her mind, that she could never, would never, ever, wish that.

* * *

A/N: A very brief explanation since this one is intentionally quite vague: this is at Asch's death, and she's thinking about Asch and Luke.


End file.
